Shocking moment open-casket funeral descends into vicious brawl between rival families

This is the moment a New York City funeral descended into chaos as a widow and her deceased husband’s family got into a fight over his open casket.

Wild footage from Funeraria Juan-John’s Funeral Home in East New York shows widow Ormella Ramos, 26, fending off slaps, punches, and even gobs of spit from her her in-laws during the funeral of her husband, Marc Anthony Humberto Ramos.

Surveillance video shows the widow shouted at by her sister-in-law, who eventually slapped one of Ramos’ friends, who had come to her aid.

A scuffle then ensued as both parties got involved, causing wreaths – and even the deceased’s casket – to be knocked over. 

A member of the departed’s family can even be seen spitting at Ramos and members of her party during the melee – which transpired days after days after her husband’s 2019 drowning death in a North Carolina state park.

Ramos – who did not throw a punch during the brawl – called the police as the fight grew out of hand. 

She and her young son then fled into a side room at the funeral home where they kept other dead bodies.

Ramos has since sued the funeral home over the fight, which was reportedly the culmination of years of tension between Ramos and her late-husband’s family, and was preceded by an argument about whether or not to cremate his body.

Ramos says in they failed to mitigate tensions they were warned would surface between the two clans – despite assuring her that things would be kept under control. 

She adds that and her husband Marc were high school sweethearts who had their first child when she was 17 – and that her husband’s family never approved of their relationship. 

When Marc, 22, accidentally drowned in Hanging Rock State Park in June 2019, she said they blamed her for his death.

The family – which includes the pair’s four school-aged children – lived less than 20 miles from the site where Marc reportedly died. All were present when the dad drowned.

‘They clearly bring up questions from that day,’ Ramos said at the time of her kids, who were traumatized by the incident.

‘”Why did he drown?” “How?” “Is he coming back?” “Why can’t he come back?”‘ were some of the queries Ramos recalled being asked by the youngsters.

Days later, Ramos said the kids were subjected to more trauma at their father’s funeral when other family members engaged in the brawl.

‘This is really emotionally traumatizing for me and my family,’ Ramos said of the rowdy service. ‘I wanted to have some kind of positive memory for me and my children. I wanted some type of good memory from their dad.’

Ramos, who is suing the funeral home based on the belief that the mortician could have done more to create a safe and controlled environment for her and her kids, went on: ‘You can’t bring their dad back, but what happened isn’t right. 

‘He deserved a decent service as well.’

Startling security footage shows the extent the service – held at Funeraria Juan-John’s Funeral Home in East New York – devolved, reportedly after an argument about whether or not to cremate the deceased’s body.

Ramos said that her husband wanted to be cremated, but that his family wanted a burial – creating further tension between the already at-odds in-laws.

The ensuing brawl saw four of attendees, including Ramos, arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault, police said.

However, the footage shows that Ramos did not throw a punch. 

The footage shows Ramos’s sister-in-law, who was not named by police, approaching the mourning mom in front of the casket. 

The pair appear to exchange words, where at which point a man comes between the two of them.

Ramos said that she had been speaking with one of her friends, telling her how good her husband looked even in death, when she was accosted by the relative.

‘I was just trying to make a moment for myself,’ she said, saying the sister took offense to her comments and told her to ‘Shut the f**k up.’

Ramos said the relative proceeded to snap, flying into a rage accusing her of killing her brother.

 ‘I look over and she just gets up and starts screaming and saying I killed my husband,’ Ramos told the News, saying she responded saying the sister had ‘wished death upon him, and that’s why we’re here right now.’ 

The footage then shows another woman, Ramos’ friend, jump to the widow’s aid and engage with the relative, spurring the sister-in-law to throw a looping, left-handed slap at the Ramos’s friend’s face.

The woman – who was also not identified – fights back, and the two proceed to swing at each other, knocking over wreaths and the open casket – which they had been fighting in front of.

Meanwhile, another woman, who Ramos identified as her late husband’s other sister, spat at those who rushed to defend Ramos, who was led by a member of the funeral staff, along with her young son, to a side room where they kept two other bodies.

Once inside the room, the battle continued to rage, and the funeral home staffer urged the mom to call 911, the widow’s lawyer told The News.

When police arrived, they arrested four people, including Ramos, who was charged with misdemeanor assault, with cops saying she slugged one of her in-laws, an NYPD spokeswoman said.

The charges have since been dropped – but Ramos was arrested and detained for roughly 30 hours following the incident, which police records suggest have likely been sealed.

A spokeswoman for the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office said they had no record of the incident, which is often the case when a criminal investigation is sealed.

Ramos now blames staff at the East New York funeral home for the incident, filing a lawsuit Wednesday in Brooklyn Supreme court saying she warned staff ‘of the numerous issues involving the family’ in the buildup to the attack. 

She said that and her husband Marc were high school sweethearts who had their first child when she was 17. Ramos said that her husband’s family never approved of their relationship. The blamed his accidental drowning death on the widow